Cypress

 The trick was to move as if someone was watching you at all times. Low to the ground. Quick enough to get to cover, but slow enough to not make mistakes. Always keep note of your escape routes, and never trust anyone you meet.

People were too complacent. That was why so many turned after the infection started spreading. They didn't think it would happen to them. No one ever believed they'd be the ones to get sick.

All you had to do was watch your back, keep an ear to the ground, and know that you were as vulnerable as anyone else. No one was invincible.

I didn't need anyone to lie to me about the state of the world once it started to go to shit. There wasn't any chance of it getting better. There wasn't any 'it will all be okay, the government will take care of us'.

You had to take care of yourself, or else you'd find your life at the mercy of a Blare, and they didn't discriminate just because you hadn't lived on the planet very long. I'd watched families get ripped apart clinging to the belief someone else was going to help them. I would never rely on anyone else to take care of me.

I'd heard of a supply stash at the school I never got the chance to graduate from. The end of the world had ruined my senior year, but it seemed like decades ago at the point. Even though it was barely under a year since the world had turned upside down.

At the time of the invasion, when the Blares came in from the sea, I was at school just like everyone else. My parents were at the pier for a work meeting. The invasion pushed inland, and scattered us all like insects.

How poetic it was that I was back to where it started.

I looked out over the entrance to the school with a frown. It was quiet. The lot was still packed with vehicles that once belonged to panicked citizens hoping for some safety and unity with others. Their camaraderie didn't last long. I remembered the fights that broke out, the dwindling food and resources that pushed friends to turn against friends.

I hadn't stayed at the school long before, and I didn't intend to stay long, now.

Pausing, I stopped to tie back my hair into a high and tight ponytail before adjusting my pack as tight as it would go on my back. Then, once everything was secure, I followed my usual way of navigating an area of unknown enemies.

Keeping low to the ground, I crouched through the path of cars and trucks, making sure to keep my hand just off of the vehicles so as to not set off any sensitive alarms. I kept a cautious eye out for any traps or wires set out between them. Once, I'd come across a trip wire set between two cars, and I never wished to find out what would happen once it was set off.

As I neared the edge of the line of cars, I heard something coming from the school. It was unmistakable. There was the sound of Blares and the Turned echoing from the cracked and broken windows. I paused, hesitating about continuing on. But, then I heard someone calling for help.

I knew I shouldn't have investigated any further, but although I wasn't one to trust people, I also wasn't one to leave a person to get ripped to shreds. Not if I could help. I stood and rushed off towards the school, just as the sound of an older vehicle approaching rattled at my back.